Buggy
It doesn’t seem to work that well. I feel like I am forever encountering bugs that either don’t create the recast or gives me error messages.
The free version is simply an annoyance
Without a subscription you can pick or search your articles. Just what I want cluttering my phone an that feeds lots of content that I don’t want.
Unuseable
Subscribed for the 7 day Pro trial. Kept telling me I needed to be a pro subscriber or the recast would just fail. Tried multiple sources. I’ll stick with Matter or Readwise.
Frustrating to use
I read about Recast and was excited to give it a try. I immediately downloaded and tried sharing some articles I had written… failed nothing happened. It just coughed on them. I gave up. The user interface really is confusing and I was not getting app feedback to what I was trying to do. Found out later in an email from them that it’s was because some platforms are considered premium. Ok great… do fix your app so it tells you that. Don’t email me separately about it.
Finally, I did try again after I found out about the premium deal so I submitted some articles to it that were supported. The recast feature itself really appeared to be a playback text to speech. Not a discussion. I was disappointed. I thought it world be more than text to speech.
Finally, I did try again after I found out about the premium deal so I submitted some articles to it that were supported. The recast feature itself really appeared to be a playback text to speech. Not a discussion. I was disappointed. I thought it world be more than text to speech.
Show more
5 star service, 1 star app
The service itself is awesome, and the pro features are worth the cost, especially if you’re using it to learn a lot of new information related to your career, which is what I’m doing. I’m really hoping they expand to PDF’s soon, which would make it even more valuable.
The app, however, is currently hot trash. I’m using the latest model iPhone and iOS versions, but still, while listening to one thing, I can’t do anything (remove, archive, view transcript, change to another recast, etc). I’m really hoping this is addressed soon in app updates!
The app, however, is currently hot trash. I’m using the latest model iPhone and iOS versions, but still, while listening to one thing, I can’t do anything (remove, archive, view transcript, change to another recast, etc). I’m really hoping this is addressed soon in app updates!
Show more
Game Changer
Get the premium and then listen to the most dense prose as a quick conversation between authors.
Absolutely OK
I really want to love this app, but the way it condenses content is quite annoying. I love that I can use the sharing sheet in IOS from any webpage, and end up with an audio version of that article in my podcast app. That is the great benefit of the app.
The problem I have with the app is that it takes an article and converts it into a condensed version that is presented as if two people were having a conversation about the article.
Here are some of the specific issues I have with the "recasting" of the articles
-When you take an article that is 72 minutes long, and recast it into 8 minutes, my first question is what am I missing from the article. I cannot believe that the original article had that much fluff in it.
The recast is presented at two "Podcast Hosts" (actually AI bots) having a conversation. However when I hear a typical conversation about something, I expect a dialog with differing views. Instead, when one of the bots starts talking, they always start with phrases like absolutely, that’s correct, or some other repetitive affirmative of the other bot. I got tired of hearing the word absolutely. I see no need for having 2 bots having a conversation with identical views. One bot is sufficient
The recast is broken up into segments. I almost expect to hear a commercial break between segments, because of the hard disjointed way they create the segments. The segments are quite disruptive to the listening process
The bots make a lot of statements, that sound like a call to action. I do not think the original articles had a call to action, so why are some bots trying to tell me what to do.
Because of the call to action from the bots, I feel like I am not getting the real voice of the author. I do not know what the author thinks vs what the bot thinks about what the author said
I read a lot of articles, and love to consume my articles in a podcast feed that I create using text to speech. I could only see using this for extremely long articles, (over 1 hour) that I did not really care about what the author actually said, and would settle for a short interpretation of the article.
What could change this to a 5 star app from my perspective would be the ability to use the share sheet to either select a recast of the article, or a direct text to voice translation of the article with all extraneous captions, ads, etc. stripped out
The problem I have with the app is that it takes an article and converts it into a condensed version that is presented as if two people were having a conversation about the article.
Here are some of the specific issues I have with the "recasting" of the articles
-When you take an article that is 72 minutes long, and recast it into 8 minutes, my first question is what am I missing from the article. I cannot believe that the original article had that much fluff in it.
The recast is presented at two "Podcast Hosts" (actually AI bots) having a conversation. However when I hear a typical conversation about something, I expect a dialog with differing views. Instead, when one of the bots starts talking, they always start with phrases like absolutely, that’s correct, or some other repetitive affirmative of the other bot. I got tired of hearing the word absolutely. I see no need for having 2 bots having a conversation with identical views. One bot is sufficient
The recast is broken up into segments. I almost expect to hear a commercial break between segments, because of the hard disjointed way they create the segments. The segments are quite disruptive to the listening process
The bots make a lot of statements, that sound like a call to action. I do not think the original articles had a call to action, so why are some bots trying to tell me what to do.
Because of the call to action from the bots, I feel like I am not getting the real voice of the author. I do not know what the author thinks vs what the bot thinks about what the author said
I read a lot of articles, and love to consume my articles in a podcast feed that I create using text to speech. I could only see using this for extremely long articles, (over 1 hour) that I did not really care about what the author actually said, and would settle for a short interpretation of the article.
What could change this to a 5 star app from my perspective would be the ability to use the share sheet to either select a recast of the article, or a direct text to voice translation of the article with all extraneous captions, ads, etc. stripped out
Show more
Response from developer
Thank you for your thoughtful review. We are aware of the issues you've mentioned and agree with your feedback. Recast is a very young app and we are actively working on improving our conversion quality. Please feel free to reach out over hello@letsrecast.ai if you have more suggestions.
This app has changed my daily habit/really loving it
Wow, I now am able to keep my brain engaged when I am exercising, picking up clutter around the house, cooking dinner, doing dishes, and a handful of other “walking about” chores, not to mention my commutes to work, the store, etc.
I start my day with a few minutes of quiet time out on my patio, adding new articles to my Recast list. I have it feeding my Apple Podcasts, so it is mixing in with a couple of podcasts I subscribe to. It’s the perfect combination! I have downloaded dozens of apps over the last few years, and I am trying to keep up with technology changes. This is the first app that has really changed the way my days unfold. Never thought I’d say that!
Well done, Recast crew! And for what it’s worth, I am a real person, not some fake reviewer!
Deb
Your friendly neighborhood nonprofit geek 😉
I start my day with a few minutes of quiet time out on my patio, adding new articles to my Recast list. I have it feeding my Apple Podcasts, so it is mixing in with a couple of podcasts I subscribe to. It’s the perfect combination! I have downloaded dozens of apps over the last few years, and I am trying to keep up with technology changes. This is the first app that has really changed the way my days unfold. Never thought I’d say that!
Well done, Recast crew! And for what it’s worth, I am a real person, not some fake reviewer!
Deb
Your friendly neighborhood nonprofit geek 😉
Show more
Response from developer
Thanks for your kind words! Great to hear you like recast. We're working hard on improving recast every day. Please keep the feedback coming!
Very buggy. Still not working on any device or browser after many, many attempts
I have been able to get this to work
Response from developer
Sorry to hear you're having trouble. Please send an email to hello@letsrecast.ai and I'm sure we'll be able to figure out what's going wrong. Thank you.
What a great app!
I LOVE Recast! Yesterday as I prepared lunch I “read” 14 technical articles on science topics and thoroughly enjoyed it. I found myself paying much better attention to the article because it was presented as a dialogue. The voices are really good; you can even hear the “breathing” of the “hosts” as they dialogue. This app has lots of promise. Try it! You’ll love it too!
Show more
Response from developer
Thank you so much for your amazing 5-star review! We're thrilled to hear that you love using Recast. It's great to know that you found the dialogue format engaging and that the voices were enjoyable to listen to. We're constantly working to improve the app and provide a seamless experience. We appreciate your support and hope you continue to enjoy using the app!
It Crash as soon as get opened.
It Crash as soon as get opened.
Crash after update
It crashes every time I open it after today’s update.
Great for listening to articles
This app is really great for listening to things. The voices they use are so natural that it sounds like actual people, that are excellent readers, reading them to to.
Also, the developers are very receptive and response to feedback about bugs and suggestions. You can tell it’s a team of people that really care about the success of what they’re doing.
Also, the developers are very receptive and response to feedback about bugs and suggestions. You can tell it’s a team of people that really care about the success of what they’re doing.
Show more
Response from developer
Thank you for your amazing review! We're thrilled to hear that you're enjoying the Recast. Our team takes pride in creating a seamless and natural listening experience for our users. We appreciate your kind words about our responsive developers who are dedicated to improving the app based on user feedback. If there's anything else we can do to enhance your experience, please let us know.
Absolutely incredible
Everybody should have this!
World changing!
Super high quality conversion to podcasts. I will now have infinite podcasts to listen to in my car. The multi voice conversations make all the difference
Really cool concept
I like the app so far; I would like to see the transcript of each recast with the spoken words highlighted so that I can follow along that way. Otherwise, very good app
Response from developer
Thanks for your feedback! This exact feature it totally on our list. Coming very soon…
An amazing app.
Please add the ability for the app to be able to make recasts from any source online please no matter where it’s from.
Response from developer
Hi! Good news, you totally can already. :) You can submit any article to be recast through the in app browser, our iOS safari extension, or the desktop chrome extension. If you need help with this, send us a message hello@letsrecast.ai
New Way to Enjoy the News
This is an amazingly innovative and fun app. Two simple steps aand I no longer have to save or bookmark my news/personal articles to read later. RECAST gives me a thorough 2-3 conversational recap of my chosen articles. Very impressive.
Love the conversational summaries!
I’m more of a reader than an audio or podcast person, but this app has changed my view on how I can consume those lengthy articles that I always wanted to read but never really have the time for…
I love the conversational style of the summaries, giving me a podcast-like experience of my favorite articles and newsletters, narrated to me in a fraction of the time it would have taken to read them myself. Highly recommend trying this it out for yourself!
I love the conversational style of the summaries, giving me a podcast-like experience of my favorite articles and newsletters, narrated to me in a fraction of the time it would have taken to read them myself. Highly recommend trying this it out for yourself!
Show more
Response from developer
Thank you so much for your amazing 5-star review! We're thrilled to hear that our Recast has changed your perspective on consuming lengthy articles. We're glad you enjoy the conversational style of the summaries, providing you with a podcast-like experience in a fraction of the time. We appreciate your recommendation and hope you continue to find value in our app. Happy listening!
Great app for actually “reading” articles on your list
I've found that listening to articles has actually helped me retain more information than I would if I were reading them.
If you're someone who wants to learn and grow but doesn't have a lot of free time, Recast is the perfect solution.
If you're someone who wants to learn and grow but doesn't have a lot of free time, Recast is the perfect solution.
